From a vast wasteland to vast choices. Here’s what’s scheduled for the future of television
Digital Journal — “Anyone afraid of what he thinks television does to the world is probably just afraid of the world.” So wrote Australian writer Clive James 20 years ago and his statement still resonates today. What has changed the TV viewing experience is also indicative of how our society has changed, from shows exploring controversial ideas to the technology housing that familiar electronic glow.
Boxy tube sets that can dominate a room have given way to sleek flat-screen models. And nearly square picture images have been upgraded to widescreen panoramas. The classic cathode ray tube is competing with innovative technologies like plasma, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicone). Then there’s low-cost rear-projection versus the unlimited display size of front-projection TV. To further excite film fans, some new TVs rival the size of screens found in miniplexes.
Add consumer confusion about digital and high-definition TV, and it’s enough to make you feel like a boob about the tube. Even a brand new TV could be virtually obsolete by the time you’ve figured out the remote control.
Expect analogue TV signals to go the way of the pager by the end of the decade. U.S. stations went digital in 2003 and the Federal Communications Commission requires analogue to be discontinued by 2009. In transitioning to digital, Canada is expected to lag two years behind the U.S., and currently only a handful of major Canadian stations transmit digitally.
But TV’s future will extend past the everyday idiot box. Streaming video and file-sharing applications already make watching TV possible on the Internet. A more likely scenario, however, is downloading programs through an Internet connection to your TV, allowing you to bypass traditional methods of delivery like broadcast, cable and satellite altogether. If logic dictates that the youth are our future, then it would be smart to recognize what they want: 75 per cent of youth preferred the Internet to TV, according to a 2004 survey by the Pew Research Center.
Telcos and Internet giants are salivating at the implications. Telcos want to build ultra-high-speed networks that use Internet protocol to deliver video as a stream of data packets (much like Voice-over Internet Protocol, or VoIP). Yahoo, SBC Communications and Microsoft invested $4 billion (US) to build an IPTV platform that not only offers viewers hundreds of channels but also the ability to download shows from a massive video library.
Imagine: network series competing with indie filmmakers and video bloggers. And the only shows you’re likely to watch in real time are breaking news reports and live sporting events, leaving the mammoth TV industry scrambling for eyeballs and ad dollars.
Just think how email relegated letter-writing to a baby boomer practice, or how the music industry freaked over Napster. With a direct Internet connection, your TV could become as customizable as your living room.
So, You Like to Watch?
Okay, you’re not a TV programmer yet, but emerging technology is quickly becoming the great leveller that gives viewers more control over what they watch, rendering traditional networks obsolete. Here are five innovations that will change the way we watch TV.
Internet Protocol TV
True on-demand TV over phone lines. Check your email and surf the Web on your TV before downloading the hottest new series. BBC already offers interactive IPTV that allows viewers access to sports, news and weather updates.
Personalized Home Video Page
IPTV users can create their own viewing library of favourite channels, shows and sites. The page can also be set up to seek out viewing recommendations based on personal preferences, IMDb-style.
Place-Shifting
Attachments like the Slingbox let you watch your live TV or personal video recorder (PVR) selections anywhere, any time, on any device. Using specialized software, download your favourite show from home to your laptop, cellphone or portable video player.
P2PTV
Though still illegal, peer-to-peer file-sharing tools like BitTorrent allow popular TV shows to be traded online. But now that the Video iPod has hit the shelves, P2P protocol will gain a new legitimacy as content providers start adopting this distribution model.
Virtual Reality
By 2020, Japan plans to develop high-def 3D images you can touch, smell and view from any angle. Imagine being able to handle merchandise on The Shopping Channel before placing your order, or watching the Stanley Cup finals and being ferociously body-checked into the boards. Okay, so there are some drawbacks.
